Joe Harder, founder of OneStone Consulting.

Cement producers around the world are looking for measures on how to improve productivity and lower operating and maintenance (O&M) costs, yet many are still resistant to external consulting. However, good results have been achieved by providers of specialised services, including full O&M contracts. In this interview we hear about the findings of a recent market report by Joe Harder, Managing Director of OneStone Consulting.

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 Outside the Wikov Gear plant in Pilsen, Czechia. This part of Wikov Group was originally part of Škoda. The older logo was kept to preserve the history and show the evolution of the Wikov brand.

Wikov Group is a leading mechanical gear manufacturer for the wind, marine, rail and other sectors, including the cement and mineral processing industries. Global Cement recently visited its plants in Pilsen and Hronov in Czechia to profile the company and to find out what drives it forward...

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Tarmac distributes 9Mt/yr of cement and aggregate in the UK.

From the Thames Tideway Tunnel to schemes such as the HS2 rail line, London Heathrow’s third runway and a possible Crossrail 2 project underneath London, the UK’s infrastructure pipeline dominates the headlines – good and bad. What attracts considerably less airtime is how we will build these once-in-a-generation projects and ensure we get the required materials in the right place at the right time.

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The entire Cauldon site at a glance, with the plant’s main limestone quarry seen at the top left.

Global Cement recently visited the Lafarge Cement Cauldon Plant, which is celebrating 60 years of continuous cement production, from 1957 to 2017. Lafarge Cement is part of Aggregate Industries, which is itself owned by LafargeHolcim. The compact Cauldon plant has a long and varied history and was the first dry-process cement plant in the UK. Here we take a tour of the plant - and its history - with Martin Bains, former plant manager.

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